


Promise Everything

by PlantSugar



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Musicians, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:02:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23719414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlantSugar/pseuds/PlantSugar
Summary: Edward Cullen thinks his life is all mapped out. But when Bella comes along, living the life he wants, can she help him achieve his dreams and find love along the way? Can they overcome the obstacles headed their way? Rated M for future lemons and language.
Relationships: Edward Cullen/Bella Swan
Kudos: 1





	Promise Everything

"This place looks like it's going to be sticky!"

Tanya shouted, her lips pursing with obvious disapproval of her surroundings, masking her anxiety with attitude. Even yelling I could barely hear her over the crashing music. I can't say this is my scene either, but I don't mind it. The dark, noisy atmosphere and aggressive energy is radiating, sending a pulse through my body. _But, yeah, it does look sticky._

I throw my arm loosely around her shoulders giving her a reassuring squeeze, leaning toward her ear.

"Relax! You can leave whenever you want, but help me find Emmett and Rose!"

Nudging her further into the space, I look around for them, but don't see either one through the sea of guys in black band t-shirts. I shoot Em a text letting him know we're here.

Considering it's a Tuesday night and the doors to this venue opened only an hour ago, I'm surprised at how packed this place already is. The band on stage is loud and is doing a pretty good job moving the people in front of them, delivering fast-spitted lyrics and bar-chord guitar work that I have to admit is catchy. You can tell the audience isn't here for them, but regardless they seem to be having fun, pushing each other and head-banging. I'm starting to feel the frenzy myself, when Tanya speaks again.

"There they are."

She points to the low balcony on the right side of the room, showing me where Emmett and Rose are seated at a small table. As we make our way up the steps to them we have to squeeze past people who are clearly trying to claim their spot and not making it easy for us to get through—I can feel Tanya's death grip on the back of my shirt behind me so she doesn't lose me. Removing her hand from my shirt, we finally arrive.

"Hey, you made it!"

Em reaches out to bump my fist, while Rose and Tanya grab onto each other and start hugging and whispering with wide eyes, a couple of nervous blonde twins.

"I told you I would come. I didn't know what to expect tonight but it wasn't this." I say laughing lightly while leaning towards his ear so he can hear me. I look down, my elbows resting on the balcony railing, watching as more and more people start filling in the floor below.

"I wouldn't have pegged _you_ as a Hardcore kind of guy." I slide my eyes toward Emmett when I say this.

When he had asked me if I wanted to go to a show with him and Rose tonight I didn't think anything of it before agreeing. I've known him for about a year and a half now, since he moved into my apartment after answering my roommate-wanted ad. We ended up being great roommates—we have a very similar cleaning philosophy of _clean-when-we-can't-stand-the-mess-anymore_ —but our friendship is a fairly recent development. Anytime we've hung out, this isn't the kind of music that ever comes out through the stereo.

With Emmett, what you see is what you get. He's a typical all-American type, a little on the bro side, and pretty much anyone would call him a prep. Tonight though he has shed his usual brightly colored polo shirt and khakis for some cargo shorts and a plain black t-shirt. It's almost jarring.

He laughs heartily, his dimples on display.

"I'm not really, but I'm trying to surprise my sister tonight and I know she won't expect to run into me here."

I can't help my reaction when my eyes widen and eyebrows raise.

"You have a sister?"

I look over at Tanya as I start to form a mental picture of Emmett in all his brawny glory with tits and long hair and can't hold in the laugh that bubbles out. She clearly has the same picture in her head because she's snickering as well.

"Don't worry Edward, it was a surprise to me too," Rose pitches in, throwing a narrow-eyed glare towards Emmett.

They had been seeing each other on and off for the last six months, but finally made it official last week. Emmett is over the moon. It's written all over him whenever they're together. _Which is all the damn time in our shared apartment. I really need to invest in some good earplugs._

I laugh at her angry kitten face and Emmett just shrugs.

"Hey, I haven't seen or talked to her in over a year now, but you're meeting her in person _to-NIGHT_ so that's got to count for something! Not to mention I've had other, very _very_ important, things on my mind recently."

He turns his mooney-eyed grin towards Rose during the last part. She rolls her icy blue eyes, but the small twitch on her lips shows she can't stay annoyed with him for long. I look at Tanya who's looking more relaxed now that she has Rose to latch onto in unfamiliar territory. _Thank God._

The four of us chat the best we can, shouting over the music and poking fun at the slam dancing and moshing going on in the pit below. Eventually though, between the music and general noise of the patrons it becomes pointless so we all just watch the band on stage from above. Rose and Tanya share the opinion that every song sounds exactly the same, but I'm enjoying it a lot more than I ever thought I would. Seeing the mob below getting increasingly rough and disorderly to the beat of the music is making me want to join in, despite how ridiculous they look doing it.

The band on stage, _Flex_ , finishes their set to shouts and other sounds of approval. They thank the crowd and announce the last two acts, _Still Burning_ and _Deadringer_ and start to pack up their gear. Em tells us that he's going to head down to the floor in front of the stage. He looks at us silently asking if anyone is going to join him. I stand immediately but look towards Tanya. She shakes her head and yells over to go ahead. Rose makes an oh-hell-no face which makes us all laugh. I yell over that we'll meet them back up here later.

As we're making our way down the crowded staircase I hear Emmett's dubious tone behind me.

"So you brought her, huh?"

I cringe. He knows all about my situation with Tanya and I already know his opinion about it.

Tanya and I have known each other forever. Our mothers met at some baby-bullshit class when they were pregnant with us, becoming fast friends and have remained that way to this day. So naturally, the two of us have been pushed together since day one. _Women._ I roll my eyes at the thought, but then feel guilty.

Despite the annoyance I feel about our meddling mothers, I'm thankful too. I was born with a built-in best friend, and that's exactly what we've been to each other for 25 years. Going to all the same schools and constantly being at each other's houses growing up, we have history. We've seen each other at our best and worst, helped each other through heartbreak and are always there for each other. We've always been on the same page. Including the friends-only status of our relationship. Until recently anyway.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I'm going to end it with her soon. I just don't want to lose my best friend or hurt her feelings. And anyway, I didn't really invite her to come. I needed a ride here."

As soon as the words leave my mouth I feel like an ass. I know I would have invited her anyway even if she hadn't just assumed she'd tag along with me.

"Chill man, I'm not going to say anything."

I can tell he's smiling when he says that so I know he's just fucking with me, and thankfully he lets the subject drop.

Getting through the mass of people is about three times the ordeal it was when I first got here, but Em is determined to get to the stage. It's almost comical how easy it is for him to elbow people out of his way and I just follow behind him.

We're at the stage now, and I ask him if he knows this band. His eyes twinkle mischievously when he answers that he has many times. _Did I really just think his eyes twinkled? I really need to start hanging out with more guys. Or watch Die Hard._

He goes to say more, but we're interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. Looking behind me I see a sprite of a girl with inky black hair and a nose ring making puppy eyes at me.

"Can I pretty please stand in front of you guys? My friends are in this band and I'd actually like to be able to see them."

We move aside a little so she can slip in front of us. The top of her head just reaches my chest.

"Thanks," she beams at us and turns to the stage.

Emmett and I make eye contact, apparently able to read each other's minds, deciding that we're on bodyguard duty for this vertically challenged girl. I can already feel that the crowd is about to get more volatile and the people keep pouring in. I can't believe this place isn't at full capacity. I'm questioning her decision to stand directly at the stage knowing that this is where most of the moshing happens, and I'm about a thousand-percent sure that this little girl would just get annihilated.

_That's sexist isn't it? Fuck._

I don't have time to think about it further before the band starts filing on stage and picking up their instruments. My eyes are drawn to the front man first. He's pacing the stage looking like a coil ready to snap, mic cord wrapped around his wrist and a wicked smirk on his face making eye contact with the audience. The sound of the guitar and bass starts, creating a nerve-wracking sludge, building the energy of the room.

Emmett bumps my shoulder and points with his eyes toward the guitarist. He leans towards me and in my ear says, "That's her," at the same time the vocalist on stage says, "We're _Still Burning_." The music explodes in a riot.

When I look up at Ems sister, I'm amazed I didn't notice her the minute she walked on stage. Not only is she one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen in real life, but her presence on the stage is almost as wild as the crowd below. Her silken dark hair catches the light while she whips it around, her pretty lips occasionally mouthing the angry lyrics, the muscles in her forearms flexing as she assaults her guitar. I'm momentarily hypnotized before my view of her is blocked.

People in the audience have started to get up on the stage to jump and flip violently back into the chaos below. When a group of four guys stood in front of her all shoving each other, she lifted her black denim-clad leg and kicked them all off the stage with a glorious sneer, all while continuing to sling notes with blistering speed and brutality. They missed landing on my head and neck by a tiny margin.

It gets hard to concentrate on the show going on in front of me because I'm constantly dodging falling bodies and being pushed hard into the stage from the mass of shoving people behind me. The tiny girl in front me and Emmett has been pretty much shielded completely from the fray and has been watching the stage with rapt attention.

The song ends and the vocalist wipes his sweat with his shirt while Ems sister approaches the edge of the stage directly in front of us. When she reaches out my heart starts beating in double-time, but then I realize she's not looking at me. She reaches towards the girl Em and I have been playing protector to, grasps her hand and pulls her up onto the stage with surprising strength and guides her over to stand on the side and leaning in to whisper something in her ear.

Once she was situated, the gorgeous guitar player walked quickly back to where Emmett stood and bent down to flick his forehead. She smirks at him and says, "Hi Em." He unleashes his dimples when he says back, "Hi Bella."

The rest of their set goes by with the same frenetic intensity, our dark surroundings humming. Em and I got sucked into the energy of it all, pushing and shoving and throwing people from the stage just enjoying the release from the simulated violence. By the time the band plays the last note and the vocalist releases his last guttural scream, I am panting and sweating my ass off. I'm both exhausted and energized from the experience, just getting lost in the music. It made me _feel_ crazy so I _went_ crazy. It feels amazing _._

The vocalist gets on the microphone once more.

"Thanks, everyone, for making our last performance on this leg of the tour a great one. Give it up for all the bands that went on before us, they were fuckin' sick—and again for _Deadringer_ coming up!"

Everyone hollers and claps accordingly, still buzzing with excitement.

"And if everyone could give a special shout for my good friend Bella here," he says while hooking his elbow around her neck bringing her close to his side, "she's been killing it on guitar for us while Brady is recovering from his car accident. Without her we would have had to drop out from the tour, so thank you B."

Bella accepts her thunderous praise with an over-the-top bow and a little smirk that makes laughter rise up from the crowd.

With that the band starts rounding up their gear while the throng breaks a little for bathrooms and rushing to merch stands before the headliner goes on. I look at Emmett who has gotten Bella's attention, telling her to meet him at our spot up in the balcony. She nods at him and goes back to helping dismantle their set up.

When he turns back to me, I tell him that I'm going to grab a drink, asking if he wants anything. He turns me down and tells me he's going to head back to the table and wait for Bella. Nodding, I turn and make my way to the bar, weaving through people.

Between the adrenaline and the surprises of the night, I'm reeling. Turns out there has been an entire genre of music I've been ignoring my whole life. I still can't picture myself listening to this on my own for enjoyment, but I'll definitely start going to shows. If I had known about the kind of rush I'm feeling now, I would have started a long time ago.

_That's just from being in the audience, imagine if you were actually on the stage._ I mentally shake myself to snap the thought out of my mind, irritated for having it again. _No reason to dwell on what will never be._

When I get the bartender's attention I order a shot of Jameson for myself and an Amaretto Sour for Tanya. Waiting for them, my mind moves on to the news of the night. _I can't believe I didn't know Emmett has a sister._ I try to think back to any of the times we've talked about our families, but they've only ever come up in passing.

_Even his girlfriend didn't know about her—and didn't he say he hasn't talked to her for a long time?_

Leaning against the bar, I start contrasting the first image I conjured of her and the one I now know to be true. _Christ, she's gorgeous._ I can see the resemblance between the siblings in the broadest sense. They have the same hair color, both are taller than average and they have hazel eyes, although hers are slightly lighter in color. Otherwise, there isn't much that marks them as obvious siblings. _Further phenotypic observation is required…for science._

The bartender returns quickly and I trade the drinks for cash, downing my shot before heading back to the group. When I reach the table it's still just the four of us. Emmett is sitting with his legs straddling the back of his chair, leg bouncing, looking excited. Rose is smiling widely with her hand resting on his arm, clearly enjoying his good mood. Tanya is looking at her phone, her chin resting in her palm, when I set the sweet drink in front of her.

Her eyes light up when she sees me and closes whatever app she was on. I smile back at her, but I can't deny that look sends an uncomfortable twinge through my chest. When she looks at me that way, it makes me wonder if we really are on the same wavelength about our relationship.

I'm reassured when her face changes to a sardonic grin, eyes filled with mirth.

"Thanks for the drink honey-bear."

"Don't sweat it, pookie." I return sarcastically.

I can feel the shot finally starting to move through my system, loosening the grip my nerves have on my body and mind.

"I figured you'd be long gone by now."

"I was going to leave, but Rose asked me to go outside with her to get some air and give our eardrums a break right after you guys left us. We got back up here maybe five minutes before you did. We had to ask those guys over there for our table back."

She points to a group of three guys who aren't paying us any attention. I nod. Then her voice becomes timid.

"Hey Edward...do you want to do something later? Maybe you could come—"

"Emmett!"

Tanya, Rose and I turn our heads toward the voice as Emmett jumps to his feet and starts moving with all the speed you would expect from a former linebacker. Bella and Emmett are attracting many eyes as they pull each other into an embrace, each looking like they are holding on for dear life. They're saying something to each other that we can't hear, but we all see when Bella swipes her finger under her eye. They release each other and start walking over to us, each smiling widely. Her broad, sparkling smile has me momentarily frozen in my seat.

_Okay, so she's not just beautiful, she's a fucking goddess walking on Earth._

I look over at Tanya and I swear I see her glaring at them, but her expression changes so quickly that I'm sure I'm just imagining it.

Reaching the table, Emmett starts making introductions.

"Guys, this is my sister Bella. Bells, this is my roommate Edward and that's Tanya." She looks at us and says hey with a grin but looks back at Emmett. I mentally thank Em for not clarifying my relationship with Tanya. _Not that it matters. She barely even glanced at you._ Tanya decides at this moment to put her arm through mine, her palm resting on my bicep. I feel bad because I normally wouldn't care—she's always been touchy with me—but at this moment I'm dying to shrug her off me.

"And _this_ i—" He gets cut off again.

"Oh I already know who this is. I can't believe you're even prettier in person. I've been dying to meet you, Rosalie. Can I hug you?"

She waits for the okay from Rose and then she has her in her arms. Bella is still squeezing Rose when she shifts her eyes to Emmett and mouths 'good job' and 'so hot' at him. He just beams and looks proud. She pulls back slightly from Rose, but puts her hands on her shoulders and leans in to whisper in her ear. Rose bursts out laughing, throwing her head back. She tells Bella that she can't wait and will definitely take her up on her offer. _So mysterious._

Once again I find myself staring at Bella. Somewhere in my mind I realize I'm being obvious, but I don't care enough to pull my gaze away from her face. Tanya squeezes my arm to get my attention, but the band below us has started their soundcheck, capturing all of our attention. Bella leans on the railing looking at the stage below giving me an uninterrupted view of her spectacular ass. Emmett asks if she wants to go down there, but with a wry smile she says no explaining she's seen this show before.

Something behind our table catches her eye and she grins, excitedly waving her hand in a come-here gesture. I look to see who she's waving to and recognize the vocalist of her band and the pixie-girl from earlier. I notice he's shorter than I would have expected after watching him perform on stage. He's shorter than my six-foot-some build, but not by much, and still pretty muscular. He's still a giant compared to the girl beside him.

Seeing her full on now I notice how odd her clothes are. Her sweater and skirt are all black with lots of rips and parts that wrap around her in strange ways. Black tights or leggings cover her skinny legs, disappearing into boots that I feel like she could take into the apocalypse.

As they approach the table, Bella points to each of them, raising her deep voice above the noise.

"You guys, these are my friends Jasper and Alice."

She then points to each of us and tells them our names while Jasper pulls over two chairs from a neighboring table that was abandoned when the headliner started playing. We all shift around making room for them at the table, squeezing closer together. Jasper nods his shaved head and lifts two fingers in greeting with a lazy smile. Alice waves energetically and cups her hands around her mouth to yell over the music.

"Hey do y'all want to move this party outside or something, so we can actually talk?"

Looking around to everyone it seems we're all in agreement and move to stand up. Emmett chimes in to suggest that we all just head back to our place to chill and hang out. He looks at me, a little contrition in his eyes as he knows I'm not big on having guests, but I just shrug. I'm not going to make a big deal about it, and I'm sure as shit not going to be the asshole that cuts his reunion with his sister short just because I don't like having people over.

It gets decided that Jasper, Alice and Bella will follow Emmett and Rose back to the apartment. I look to Tanya, who still hasn't let go of me and wiggle my arm to dislodge her gently.

"Are you gonna take off? I can ride over with them no problem."

"Do you want me to go? Am I not invited too?" Tanya asks with snark. My eyes roll to show her I think the tone is unnecessary.

"You know that's not what I was getting at. You can do whatever you want, I was just asking."

"I'm coming."

_Great._

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

It doesn't take long for all of us to get settled in the sparsely furnished living room, conversation flowing easily. There isn't enough seating for everyone so Bella and Alice are sitting on the floor, despite mine and Emmett's protests. Emmett and Rose are on the love seat, with his arm around her shoulders, her legs tucked up to her chest and leaning into his side. Tanya is sitting on the opposite side of the couch as me, her sock-covered feet resting in my lap and phone in her hands. My feet are propped on the coffee table in front of me. The window air conditioning unit whirs in the background.

Jasper and I find that we both have very strong opinions when it comes to which Starburst flavors are the best and are in a playful disagreement when we overhear Rose ask Bella and Alice how they met. Both of us are curious so we turn our attention. They both start giggling.

"We met on Tinder last year." Bella answers, turning and dramatically batting her long dark lashes at Alice with a teasing look. Tanya perks up at this information, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"Ha! I didn't know that."

Jasper's eyes are comically wide. I'm sure my face would be the same if I wasn't already trying so hard to be cool. The thought of Bella with another girl is almost too much for my lizard brain to handle. _Pretty girl-hands dragging all over Bella's shivering body, curves on curves, soft plump lips moving lower and-._ I stop that train of thought before I have an obvious problem. Add it to the spank account and move on. I blink back to reality as Alice takes over the story.

"Oh yeah. I lost my SHIT when I saw Bella had matched with me, I thought she was so fucking hot. We started messaging each other and we had so many weird little things in common we were like, hell yeah, we have to meet up. We were busy though, so we kept messaging each other all day every day. Eventually the texts started to get X-rat-" _Oh god._

"ALICE!" Bella shouts, eyes wide. "Do you really need to share that part of the story?!" Her eyes flicker towards Emmett and then briefly at me before looking away.

Alice bursts out laughing and looks at Emmett who is definitely looking like he'd rather not be hearing that his sister has ever engaged in sexting. Rose is laughing too, pinching his bicep.

"Sorry man, I keep forgetting you're her BROTHER." She flings her hand out towards Bella, lightly smacking her arm. Apparently she didn't know Bella had a sibling either.

"No, no, feel free to give every detail. This is quite the beautiful tapestry you're weaving for us." Jasper gives them an indecent grin, his eyes lingering on Alice. Bella throws her empty water bottle at him and tells him, "You wish."

"I was just trying to say we were...excited...to meet each other." The devious tilt to Alice's mouth says it all. She continues.

"Anyway, fast forward to our date and everything is fantastic. Food, conversation, flirting, it's all on-point." Bella nods her head in agreement and brings her fingers to her lips in a chef's kiss, making everyone laugh.

"We were already planning our next date before that one was even done. So imagine our shock when we go in for the end-of-the-date kiss and as soon as our lips touch it's like a bucket of ice gets dumped on our heads."

Alice shakes her head in mock disappointment, but can't quite hold her smile.

The two girls look at each other with genuine affection as they tell the rest of the story of how they awkwardly ended the date, but reached out to each other a few days later and agreed they should be friends.

"Our connection was way too special. We may not have had any desire for each other in that way anymore, but I knew there was no way I could let her out of my life so easily." Bella says this with the sweetest expression I think I've ever seen on a human face. Imagine if it was aimed at you.

As the night rolls on, we all talk as a group or break off into separate conversations and I'm gratified to find that I really enjoy their company, and like them all as people. I'm surprised to learn that Alice, Rose and I have similar taste in music-all of us liking indie and bedroom pop. Jasper and Bella have a good time poking fun at us for it, calling us lame and hipsters, but it's all in jest; Bella even admits to having a pop playlist on her Spotify.

Bella, Emmett, and Jasper reminisce about high school, sharing funny stories and explaining how they all met. Emmett and Jasper shared some class together and were casually friendly. Emmett had overheard Jasper telling some other guys that he wanted to start a hardcore band and suggested the he talk with his sister who played the guitar.

"Yeah, 'plays guitar' was the understatement of the century. She fuckin' melted my face off when she came over." We laugh as Bella imitates the dropped-jaw look on Jasper's face that day. "We started writing together the same day and that was the start of Still Burning."

I'm going to ask them to fill in the gaps between Bella being a founding member to simply filling-in, but Tanya pulls her feet from my lap and stands at that moment.

"It's been really nice meeting and hanging out with you all, but I need to go pass out." She gives a small wave that everyone returns, and I watch as Tanya heads up the stairs toward my bedroom.

I turn my head back to the group and find that Bella's eyes are on my chest, slowly moving up to my face to meet my eyes. I'm thrilled to have caught her checking me out. Her lips quirk up shyly, looking away for just a moment before meeting my eyes again, smiling just a bit wider. _God she's cute._

Everyone else seems oblivious to what just happened between us, looking tired and close to falling asleep where they sit. We all collectively decide that going to bed is a necessary evil at this point. Emmett and I tell Bella, Jaz and Alice they are more than welcome to crash here, offering up the couch and spare bedroom to whomever wants it, which they all gratefully accept.

It's decided that Jasper will take the couch and Bella and Alice will share the guest room. I start to follow the path Emmett, Rose and Alice had just taken to go upstairs, annoyed, remembering that I'm going to have to share a bed with Tanya, when I feel a hand gently grasp my elbow to halt my movement. Looking first at the hand, I move my gaze up the toned, inked arm up to Bella's waiting face. The warmth from her hand is stimulating to say the least.

"Hey, I just wanted to ask if it was okay to smoke this on your back porch?" Her rich voice sounds a little shy.

In her other hand, calloused but delicate fingers are holding a blunt between them. I haven't smoked since starting grad school, not wanting to let anything encourage my proclivity toward procrastination, and I haven't missed it. But looking at the rolled weed in her hands, the opportunity has never looked so attractive. Her expression is inviting as she looks at me, waiting for my reply. I notice now how close she is and how she still hasn't stopped touching my arm.

I try to project the confidence I so desperately want to be feeling.

"Sure...if you share with me."

* * *

**A/N: Reviews are appreciated. I'm dying to know how you rank Starburst flavors.**

**Chapter Song: Burning Desire to Draw Last Breath - Gulch**

**I don't own Twilight.**


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